Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4618: Phil Valentine, Conservative Talk Show Host and Open Vaccine Skeptic Dies from COVID.

#BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #EmotionalIntelligence #PhilValentine

2/ What do you think about the above image of Phil Valentine? This was most probably, a professionally photographed headshot — however, this specific facial expression, whether it was professionally directed or otherwise, was profoundly ill-advised.

3/ Does this facial expression trigger you? Do you find it friendly? Is this a sincere smile? Is this a smile at all?

4/ One of the required components of a Sincere smile/True/Duchenne smile is a relaxed forehead — that is, no muscular contraction of the forehead muscles. His forehead is relaxed — so he 'checks this box'.

5/ Now look at his mouth? Is this a mouth smile? Enlarge the above pic for a moment. Using your fingers/hands, block out everything but his mouth? What do you think? Does this mouth look like a sincere smile? No — Valentine is absolutely not smiling.

6/ His mouth/lip corners are concave-up, yes — however his lips are too tight and too thinned — particularly his upper lip. This lip-tightening is due, in part, to horizontal tension/vectoring of the corners of the mouth. These thinned lips indicate Anger.

7/ A true, Sincere (Duchenne) Smile consists of primarily an upward vectoring of the WHOLE mouth and lips — accompanied by (crucially), significant contraction and elevation of the muscles of the cheeks.

8/ So while the corners of Valentine's mouth are upturned, the tissue around the mouth/deeper tissue/the entire mouth as a unit — are absolutely not vectored upward in this moment. His cheeks are barely contracted & importantly they're not elevated, but pulled outward (laterally)

9/ What's NOT important in a sincere smile is the displaying of teeth (Indeed, during a partially suppressed smile, quite commonly there are no teeth visible).

10/ However, when teeth are visible in the context of a sincere smile, the vast majority of times, it's only the upper teeth that should be visible.

11/ (Exceptions for 'only upper teeth' rule include: during crescendo to/or decrescendo from sincere laughter [sincere laughter displays upper and lower teeth], a downward tilted head, atypical dentition, an elevated visual or camera angle).

12/ Intriguingly, men with facial hair, particularly mustaches and goatees, will often appear to have diminished smiles (even when they are, in fact, smiling). This is because the contour of the mustache mimics that of an upside-down smile — nullifying it to a degree.

13/ It's also more difficult to accurately interpret the facial expression of Men with facial hair.

14/ Although the underlying cause is not known, it's probably for this reason that, statistically, men with facial hair are also judged to be less trustworthy by all genders, all ages, and in all cultures.

15/ If we look at Valentine's 'Mustache Area' we see it's under significant tension. His nostrils are also mildly (3-4 out of 10) flared. These mid-face characteristics are indicative of anger and disgust.

16/ Now look at Valentine's eyes. One requirement for a sincere smile are partially closed eyelids (sometimes mostly — or even all the way closed during suppressed or deep smiles). This is an absolute requirement for sincere smiles.

17/ Valentine's are not only not partially closed, they're open extra wide. This is a profound red flag.

18/ The skin of his upper eyelids (between his eyebrows and his eyelashes) is somewhat loose and redundant (The medical term for this is dermatochalasis) and it hangs down, obstructing our full view of his eyelids.

19/ This redundant/loose skin makes it difficult for the less experienced to discern, but his upper eyelids are opened quite widely — a good bit more than a healthy resting eye should be (and much, much more than a sincere smiling eye).

20/ And no, these are not just 'Phil's normal eyes'.

21/ His lower eyelids are also opened wider than baseline — his left lower eyelid more so.

22/ In a general sense (more on this later) this wide opened eyelid configuration indicates elevated adrenaline.

23/ Unlike most (but not all) other primates, human beings' sclera (the white tissue of the eyes) is covered with clear conjunctiva. Most other primates have heavily pigmented conjunctiva.

24/ Biologists feel we evolved in this manner in order to be able to discern subtle and evanescent changes in the configurations in/around the eyes (fractions of millimeters are crucial).

25/ Our visible white sclera allows the astute among us to become adept at detecting emotions accurately.

26/ In addition, Valentine lacks any concave-up furrow in his lower eyelids. Such temporary concave-up furrows are absolutely required for a sincere smile to be present.

27/ Moreover, his lower eyelids are NOT relaxed — rather, they are tense. This is shows a heightened adrenaline and, in the context of the rest of his face, indicates heightened adrenaline, anger and preparation for physicality.

28/ Disregard what some sources say regarding "crows feet" on the outside (lateral) corners of the eyes. Crows feet are present both during fake/social/insincere smiles — as well as sincere smiles. They are also present on the resting face beyond a certain age.

29/ When you put all the components of this face together — particularly widely opened eyelids together with a feigned mouth smile — this expression is a profound red flag.

30/ SUMMARY: The thought-emotion expressed by Phil Valentine in this headshot is not a sincere smile (and NO, this is not 'just the way Phil smiles'). On the contrary, it should set off alarm bells in your amygdala.

continued ...

31/ This is a predatory stare. It has strong components of anger, heightened adrenaline, disgust, and anticipated physicality.

continued...

32/ While this photo was taken in the context of a posed photo headshot, anyone who displays this expression should be strongly avoided. Do NOT engage. Anyone who displays this expression frequently is dangerous and it's extremely likely they have underlying psychopathology.

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